Must Read- Family Life by Akhil Sharma

‘Hemingway had been an alcoholic and his characters often drank too much. Their drinking appeared false, though, because there were no consequences. it was like how cartoon characters fall off cliffs without being injured.’

‘There was silence. I had decided to tell Rita I loved her. This was because from having watched Hindi movies, it seemed that if one was to have a relationship with a girl, one had to be in love.’

‘After four or five months of reading Hemingway, I decided to write a story. I had in the past written stories for English classes. These had all been about white people, because white people’s stories seemed to matter more. Also, I hadn’t known how to write about Indians. How would I translate the various family relations, the difference between an uncle who is a father’s brother and an uncle who is a mother’s brother?’

‘It was strange to write something down and for that thing to come into existence. The fact that the sentence existed made Birju’s coughing somehow less awful.’